Elevator for marine vessels.



H. BARLOW.

ELEVATOR FOR MARINE VBSSELS.

AQPPLIOATION FILED AUG. 26, 1910. 1,006,044. Patent ed Oct. 17,1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESS/58: MENTOR; M Q BA/FA 0W 7 by I I ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH 110-, WASHINGTON. D. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY BARLOW, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

ELEVATOR FOR MARINE VESSELS.

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Application filed. August 25, 1910. Serial No. 578,893.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY BARLow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevators for Marine Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of marine vessels which are utilized in carrying freight and more particularly to such as are employed in bodies of water subject to tidal variations.

It is the object of my invention to afford means whereby loading or unloading of a vessels cargo can be more readily and quickly accomplished, which will afford a greater cargo capacity in proportion to the size of the vessel and will require a less expenditure of power to transpose a given load from or to the vessel than obtainable with forms of boats or by the equipments thereof heretofore in use.

To these ends, the invention consists in improvements in the construction of a vessel whereby a part of a deck thereof constitutes a vertically movable platform for the raising or lowering of a quantity of goods deposited thereupon from a selected elevation in the vessel to a gangway leading to a wharf or other landing place; the invention also relates to the machinery whereby these results are attained, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a portion of a boat embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of a portion of the movable deck or platform shown in the other views.

The reference numeral 5 designates the hull of a boat which may be of the usual or approved construction and is provided with a lower deck 6 and an upper deck 7. The upper deck is discontinuous to provide an opening extending between the deck-ends 7 and the entire width of the deck. As illustrated, the sides of the boat above the lower deck are likewise formed with openings 8 of corresponding lengths to that of the deckopening thus providing a gap in the vessel which extends down to the lower deck. The upper deck structure in front and to the rear of the gap is reinforced as by the provlsion Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1'7, 1911.

of truss members comprising deck beams 9, struts 9 and tie-rods 9".

Positioned at the sides of the vessel and in uxtaposition with the deck-ends 7 are upright posts 10 rigidly secured to the boat structure.

11 is a platform adapted to substantially close the opening in the upper deck and, upon occasion, to form a part thereof. At its corners, said platform is provided with recesses 12 (Fig. 3) to accommodate the aforesaid posts.

The platform is sustained from near its corners by cables 13 which extend upwardly and over pulleys 14 supported by the respective posts and from which pulleys the various cables extend down to and about guide-pulleys 15 located below the lower deck and whence the cables are led by guidepulleys 16 to a winding-drum 17 This drum is mounted upon a shaft 17 carrying a gear wheel 18 which is driven by a pinion 19 upon the shaft 20 of a suitable hoisting engine. Said engine is desirably located upon the upper deck.

21 designates metal bars secured to the inner faces of the posts to furnish tracks for guide rolls 22 provided on the platform 11. The platform, (see Fig. 3) is constructed of a series of transversely arranged deck planks 23 alternating with metal bars 24 and united by spaced bolts 25 extending through the several planks and bars. This platform is further provided with longitudinal T- bars 26 secured to the underside of the platform planks.

To allow the platform being lowered and to rest upon the lower deck, certain of the planks are removed from the latter to allow the depending flanges of said T-b'ars to extend into notches 27 provided in the beams 28 of the deck.

29 indicates brackets secured to the outer faces of the posts 10 for supporting at various predetermined heights a timber 30 which, in turn, supports an end of a gangway 31, shown in Fig. 1.

The operation of the invention is as follows: WVhen a vessel provided with the invention is to unload, for example, upon a wharf, then the timber 30 would be engaged in the brackets upon the side of the vessel adjacent to the wharf which would support the gangway 31 in a nearly horizontal position. The platform 11 is then alternately raised and lowered under the power and control of the hoisting engine to or from the level of the gang-way and the deck which carries the cargo. The goods are most conveniently handled by using a number of trucks which are wheeled upon the platform to the capacity of the latter and when the platform is brought to the gangway level the trucks are wheeled over the gang-way and upon the wharf. The empty trucks are then returned to the platform which is then raised or lowered, as may be required, to the deck for receiving a further load on the platform, and so on. lVhen the cargo is upon the upper deck 7 the platform would be stopped at the position indicated by dotted lines a in Fig. 2; but in discharging a cargo from the lower deck the platform would be stopped in the position indicated by dotted lines I) in said view when the platform would be borne upon the lower deck 6 while the T-bars 26 would extend into the notches 27 of the beams 28 and subsequent to the exposure of such notches by the removal of unfastened planks from the deck. The trucks are most conveniently wheeled onto or from the platform when upon this lower deck by utilizing a number of triangular shaped blocks or risers 32 (Fig. 2) to provide a runway for the truck wheels.

By placing the engine upon the upper deck the operator therefor has an unobstructed view to more reliably stop the platform at the various stages of its movements.

The manner of loading the vessel will, it is thought, be understood from the foregoing. After a cargo is deposited upon the decks, the planks which have previously been removed from the lower deck are restored to close the openings 33, and also the platform 11 is brought into the position indicated by a in Fig. 2, thus closing the openings in bot-h decks. Vhereupon the cargo may be distributed to occupy the space between the posts on both decks.

It may be stated that the hoisting engine should be provided with suitable brake and clutch devices such as are employed with engines of this type and whereby the lowering of the platform is attained without the consumption of the power medium.

The advantages of the invention reside principally in the celerity in which a cargo can be loaded or unloaded at all stages of the tide or from different heights and in practice has demonstrated that with the present invention the work can be done in at least one-fifth the time which was occupied prior to the application of the invention.

What I claim, is

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with the hull of a vessel provided with an upper and lower deck, the upper of said decks having an opening therein, of a vertically movable platform formed of a series of planks and angle bars, guide pulleys located below the lower deck,

supporting posts, guide pulleys upon said posts, cables connected to said platform and traveling over said guide pulleys, and means whereby said cables are actuated for holsting and lowering said plat-form, certain of the beams of the lower deck being provided with notches for the reception of said angle bars when the platform is lowered against the lower deck.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with the hull of a vessel provided with an upper and a lower deck, the upper of said decks having an opening therein, of a vertically movable platform formed of a series of planks and angle bars, guide pulleys located below the lower deck, supporting posts, guide pulleys upon said posts, cables connected to said platform and traveling over said guide pulleys, means whereby said cables are actuated for hoisting and lowering said platform, certain of the beams of the lower deck being provided with notches for the reception of said angle bars when the platform is lowered against the lower deck, and means provided upon the posts for supporting the end of a gangway at various predetermined heights.

HARRY BARLOW. WVitnesses:

PIERRE BARNES, H. BARNES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

